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The Strait and Narrow

Chatham House published a new study last week examining the
implications of maritime choke points for the global energy market. The study, Maritime
Choke Points and the Global Energy System: Charting a Way Forward, is
timely considering tensions in the Persian Gulf where Iran has hinted at the
possibility of closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to recent threats
(economic and military) against its nuclear program.

The United States would be on much firmer legal ground if it
were party to Law of the Sea. In addition, it stands to reason that the United
States would be able to deflate Iranian challenges to a U.S. right for “transit
passage” should it ever decide to close the Strait of Hormuz on the basis that
it does not recognize the right of non-party states to travel through the
strait – which is not inconceivable. There
will inevitably be those who argue that the United States does not need to
ratify the Law of the Sea treaty to ensure its access to the Strait of Hormuz.
However, to the extent that Law of the Sea provides the United States another
arrow in its quiver, and one that has its basis in accepted international law, there
is no downside to ratifying it.